Swansea City v Newcastle United

Commentary By: Stuart Martin

FINAL SCORE: 0 - 1

S.M. at 2017-09-10 18:01:53

Summary: Overall a poor performance by Mike Jones. Too often he was making decisions from behind play and never looked comfortable when moving about the field of play. This then led to diminished credibility of decisions. Having judged that a penalty should not be awarded to Newcastle in the first half as the Swansea defenders made no contact with Merino, then a yellow card for simulation should have been given to the Newcastle player to add credibility to what was the correct judgement. Similarly the offence committed by Ritchie on Mawson was only punished by a yellow card when a red card would have showed consistency of officiating across the board following Manes red card for an identical challenge for Liverpool yesterday. Although this was a disappointing performance by the Referee, good co-operation between Assistants, 4th Official and Referee was evident. Perhaps tomorrow evenings game at West Ham may provide us with a better standard of Refereeing. Join me to see. Thanks for being with us this afternoon.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 17:51:28

S.M. at 2017-09-10 17:46:56

5 mins added time for Newcastle to hand on for a victory

S.M. at 2017-09-10 17:43:07

for Gayle for delaying the restart

S.M. at 2017-09-10 17:39:00

Public rebuke for Ayew following foul to prevent run by opponent

S.M. at 2017-09-10 17:36:40

Foul by Fer on Atsu. Good flag by Assistant adds credibility to the decision and the subsequent for Fer.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 17:32:55

Newcastle take the lead with a header by Lascelles.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 17:31:12

The Referees movement looks somewhat laboured. Perhaps that is why he is often behind play trying to make up ground.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 17:16:12

Mike Jones needs to increase his work rate to get nearer to challenges when making a judgement. Too often he is giving decisions from behind play.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 17:11:59

Foul by Ritchie on Mawson. for Ritchie. but this was an identical offence to that which saw Mane of Liverpool dismissed yesterday. Mawson’s attitude following the collision probably ensured only a yellow card was given to the Newcastle player. It would be great to get consistency across the board with all officials but clearly training of Officials by the powers that be doesn’t scratch the surface, hence each individual Referee makes an individual judgement..

S.M. at 2017-09-10 17:04:22

Here we go for the second half. Foul by Naughton punished by

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:53:07

A “bitty” performance by Mike Jones throughout the first half. He needs to increase his detection rate of some of the holding offences to increase his credibility of decision making. At least good co-operation between Officials was demonstrated but shouldn’t have been necessary given the Referees position. Close proximity to incidents gives credibility but only if offences are detected immediately. Hopefully we will see a marked improvement in the second half. Agree with your last comment Ken. Keep them coming.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:46:39

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:46:22

Renato Sanches also needs to be careful, committing two offences in quick succession. Foul tackles from behind should always be penalised.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:44:10

Merino gets a talking to by the Referee. The Newcastle player needs to be careful as the Referee has now set- up a caution going forward.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:39:40

Ken…I think his colleague definately helped him out. Poor from the Referee as he was well positioned to view the challenge himself but good co-operation by the Officials ensured the correct decision was made eventually.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:37:15

A good decision not to award Newcastle a penalty kick with Merino seemingly simulating a foul. A caution for the Newcastle player would have been credible in the circumstances.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:33:57

Once again a player manhandles an opponent. The Referee was slow to award the free kick which makes you wonder if he could not recognise what was taking place. It seems he was helped out by his colleague to ensure the correct decision was given eventually.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:29:18

Silly risk taken by Referee in allowing advantage when both players remained on the floor apparently injured following the foul. Fortunately the ball was put out of play to stop the game.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:27:00

Clumsy foul by Manquillo rightly penalised. Fer penalised for pulling back and catching opponent in tackle from behind. Correct decision by Mike Jones.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:24:07

Abraham not happy with decision given against him. It has to be said both players were as bad as one another in holding. There was no way Swansea would get a penalty for such a situation.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:19:16

Thanks for your comment Ken. The Referee was well positioned to spot exactly what went on and acted accordingly. You clearly don’t agree which is fine but in my opinion the Newcastle player knew exactly what he was doing in barging his opponent to take him out of the phase of play.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:13:40

The caution demonstrates that players will not be allowed to use the wet conditions to commit reckless challenges and also enforces the Referees authority very early. A good learning point…if an early opportunity presents itself to allow an assertion of authority then take it !

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:09:42

Mike Jones well positioned to easily penalise foul by Hayden on Sanches. for Hayden expected and given.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:04:51

Good advantage applied for Swansea. Nice to see a clear arm signal by the Referee. Sensible “quiet word” for the offender Ritchie by the Referee when play stopped.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:02:59

Foul by Merino on Fer. Mike Jones a little behind play when awarding the free kick but no arguments from players.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 16:00:31

Swansea get the game underway with rain falling.

S.M. at 2017-09-10 15:37:55

Good afternoon and welcome to the second of this RefCam games which features Swansea City v Newcastle United from the Liberty Stadium. Hopefully we will see a similar very good performance from the Officials to that which was demonstrated in the first of this afternoons game.

The Officials in charge are as follows: Referee: Mike Jones Assistants: Adrian Holmes & Mark Scholes 4th Official: Bobby Madley Kick-off will be in around 20 minutes so join us then for what should be an enthralling game. Don’t forget to send us your thoughts @youarethe ref .